TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesia abstains in UN vote on Iran
Refusing to buckle to pressure from big powers, Indonesia on Monday (Tuesday in Jakarta) abstained from the vote on a U
Change Size
Refusing to buckle to pressure from big powers, Indonesia on Monday (Tuesday in Jakarta) abstained from the vote on a U.S.-sponsored resolution on Iran at the UN Security Council.
The council imposed fresh sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, but Tehran vowed to continue its nuclear program because it deemed the action as illegal and politically motivated.
The council approved the resolution by a vote of 14-0 with Indonesia alone abstaining.
Indonesia's Ambassador to the UN Marty Natalegawa said in his remarks that the goals of the previous two resolutions were being achieved and that Iran was cooperating with the IAEA, thus "at this juncture, more sanctions are not the best course".
"We are not convinced whether more sanctions -- however incremental, well targeted and reversible -- would move us forward in resolving the question of Iran's nuclear program or whether it would only give a potential negative impact at a time when progress is being made," said Marty.
He said "the IAEA-Iran work plan constitutes a platform to restore the confidence of the international community".
"Any interruption to this confidence-building process will only threaten to unravel the important gains that have been made."
The resolution was adopted 10 days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported progress in Iran's efforts to come clean on past nuclear activities.
The vote was postponed twice to provide time to lobby all 15 members of the council, including Indonesia.
Antara news agency quoted Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazee as saying he "gives appreciation to Indonesia who did not support the resolution".
Indonesia supported the previous resolution, which led to the House of Representatives summoning President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Yudhoyono is scheduled to visit Iran next week.
An international relations analyst at the University of Indonesia, Makmur Keliat, said abstaining was the safest option for Indonesia.
"We don't have any clear-cut ideas either how to resolve the issue. Besides, this isn't one of those issues where we need to specifically support or oppose because it doesn't directly affect our interests," he said.
Azyumardi Azra, a Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University professor, said the abstention came off as indecisiveness.
"We should have fully opposed the resolution if we are to comply with our soft-power foreign policy to uphold dialogue. Sanctions, as we've seen, only groom radicalism," he said.
For the first time, the resolution bans trade with Iran in goods that have both civilian and military uses.
It calls on all countries "to exercise vigilance" in entering into new trade commitments with Iran, including granting export credits, guarantees or insurance.
It orders countries to freeze the assets of 12 additional companies and 13 individuals with links to Iran's nuclear programs, and requires countries to "exercise vigilance" and report the travel or transit of those Iranians.
Khazee, the Associated Press reported, said the council was being "downgraded to a mere tool of the national foreign policy of a few countries".
Iran, he rehashed, would never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.
